Dear Capt. Paul:
I would like to get the coordinates for the Motor Vessel Dawn (wreck), also called the Golden Dawn. It is located in the Vermilion blocks in approximately 100 feet of water.
Thank you in advance.
Didier Ardoin
Capt. Paul’s Response:
NOAA reports that there is a wreck by the name of Golden Dawn located in Vermilion 222 at or about N28 40.010 latitude by W92 35.553 longitude. That would put the location about 71 miles at a course of 206 degrees from Southwest Pass of Vermilion Bay. The NOAA charts (1116A & 11340) of the area show it in about 114 feet of water.
Unless otherwise specified, all positions are stated as H,DDD,MM.mmm and were determined using WGS 84 DATUM. All headings/bearings/courses are stated in magnetic degrees.
Dear Capt. Paul:
I’m thinking about buying Meridian Platinum with Direct-Route CD.
Would this be a good unit? What else would give turn-by-turn directions and electric compass with lots of download capacity.
Jeff
Capt. Paul’s Response:
The only handheld unit that I know of that would come close to the Platinum would be the Garmin GPS MAP76S. Your choice of the Platinum is a very good choice. It is a fine unit.
The Meridian Platinum has the ability to accept plug-in secure digital memory cards, which allow for up to 128 MB of Magellan’s MapSend mapping software. The GPSMAP 76S can accommodate up to 24 MB of Garmin’s MapSource mapping memory in an internal, non-accessible memory chip.
I recommend that you get the TOPO version of whatever unit you decide on. It will offer the most detail in land usage and if fishing the coastal marshes.
Keep in touch, and let me know how you make out.
Dear Capt. Paul:
I have a new Standard Horizon 150c GPS/chart WAAS, and everything seems to be working fine except the speed read-out.
I have contacted Standard Horizon, and they can’t give me an answer. I have the SOG set to MPH, but it will only read to 44 m.p.h. I am running a 225 EFI Suzuki on a 22-foot aluminum boat, and the SOG with a Garmin handheld is 63 m.p.h. WOT.
Everything on the GPS works fine, and it is very accurate. Compass is fine too. Standard says if everything else is working, then the SOG should be working fine too. The speed on my fishfinder reads in the 60s too. The antenna has a clear view of the sky and tracks well.
What could be up with the speed reading? Ever come across this problem before?
Jeff Spring
Capt. Paul’s Response:
Wow! 63 m.p.h. in a 22-foot aluminum boat. That is really moving!
If the Horizon tech support could not come up with an answer, I would be hard pressed to determine exactly why it will not read a higher speed. I do have a few suspicions though.
Try as I may, I cannot locate a specification section on the Horizon web site for the unit CP150C.
I was trying to confirm or disprove my suspicions concerning the update rate and GPS velocity accuracy for the 150C unit.
It may be that the update rate is below that of a Garmin handheld unit, which is generally shown as 1/second continuous and the GPS velocity accuracy, which is listed at or about .05 meters per second (.097 kts) steady state.
If the update and, more important, the velocity accuracy calculations are slower than the .05 meter per second of the Garmin, the unit may not have been programmed to calculate a figure that it could not discern from the satellites. Sometimes color units by their very nature are slower in displaying their maps and updates.
Why write software to calculate speeds in excess of what the unit can read. For instance, most of Garmin’s GPS units designed for civilian aviation can figure speeds up to 999 knots (1149.629 MPH), whereas their marine units read to a lesser speed.
I once had a Garmin handheld GPS 12XL with the specifications shown to be 0.1 knot RMS steady state, aboard a commercial airline and obtained a speed reading of 587 m.p.h. with 33,000 feet of altitude.
Got a GPS question for Capt. Paul? You can ask it at louisianasportsman.com.
